Cillian Murphy's 'Peaky Blinders' future runs through three different sons, and only one of them is real

Highlights:

• Cillian Murphy's 18-year-old son Aran is building his own acting career, appearing in Lola and the upcoming Klara and the Sun, with his father offering guidance rather than pressure.
• In Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Barry Keoghan plays Duke Shelby, the fictional illegitimate son of Murphy's Tommy Shelby.
• Murphy has also signed on as executive producer of a two-season Peaky Blinders sequel series, confirmed for Netflix and the BBC, following an entirely new generation of the Shelby family in 1953 Birmingham.

Cillian Murphy has spent the past year surrounded by sons, just not always his own. One is real, following him into a career Murphy never pushed him toward. One is fictional, inheriting a flat cap Murphy wore for a decade. And the show that made him famous is now, with Murphy's own hand in it, about to hand its story to a generation that hasn't been born yet.

The real son: Aran Murphy

Murphy's 18-year-old son Aran has been quietly building his own acting credits, from playing Hamnet at age 11 to appearing in Lola and now preparing for Klara and the Sun. Murphy has said he's "very, very proud" of him, while being deliberate about not pushing him into the industry. His advice has stayed practical rather than sentimental: always hang up your costume, and remember you're one part of a much larger production, not the whole show.

The on-screen son: Duke Shelby

In Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the story picks up with Barry Keoghan playing Duke Shelby, Tommy's illegitimate son, stepping into the world Murphy's character built. Keoghan has said he stayed deliberately unfamiliar with parts of the original show's lore before taking the role, wanting to bring his own read on the character rather than imitate what came before.

The producer's chair: shaping the next generation himself

Murphy's own role has shifted behind the camera too. He's signed on as executive producer for a new two-season Peaky Blinders sequel series, set in 1953 as Birmingham rebuilds after the war, following a new generation of Shelbys taking control of the family's future. Creator Steven Knight has confirmed the script for the second season is already finished, with Netflix having pre-ordered it before the first season even airs.

For a franchise Murphy once said he thought might not work at all, given up on by its own cast during the first few days of filming, it's ended up shaping three separate generations at once, and Murphy's had a hand in every one of them.